Baseball's Second Half Under Way

Published 9:00 pm, Wednesday, July 10, 2002

Baseball came back from the break Thursday and found a bleak picture: Fans still stewing about the All-Star game and even more worries about labor trouble.

Not exactly the scenario that anyone wanted to see at the start of the second half of the season.

"Baseball has been getting beat up," Baltimore manager Mike Hargrove said at Camden Yards before Thursday night's game against Oakland.

"We don't always do the thing to take the heat off us all the time," he said. "But you hate to see something that you love get beat up _ in some cases, justly, in other cases, unjustly."

Yet after a 7-7, 11-inning tie in Tuesday night's All-Star game that left the crowd at Miller Park in Milwaukee booing and throwing bottles, plus the possibility of a players' strike, many fans weren't in a forgiving mood.

"The All-Star game was a joke," complained Mitchell Katz of New York, watching the Mets play Philadelphia at Shea Stadium.

"I'm a big fan of baseball. I just love the game," he said. But if there's a strike, he said, "I wouldn't even think about coming back."

There have been eight work stoppages since 1972. And in another sign of how things are going this year, Thursday's scheduled bargaining session between players and owners was called off.

Philadelphia manager Larry Bowa can understand the frustration and anger over a potential strike.

"People don't want to hear that, especially after Sept. 11. There are more important things," he said. "You talk about people losing lives and losing families. And they don't want to read about billionaires and millionaires arguing about who gets this and who gets that. They want to see the game of baseball being played on the field."

Bowa, by the way, had to move back the start of Vicente Padilla from Thursday to Saturday after he pitched the last two innings for the NL. Padilla pitched in the All-Star game after having trouble getting loose in the bullpen.

Despite talk of a fan boycott _ the idea has been floated on the Internet _ Milwaukee manager Jerry Royster didn't think crowds should avoid the ballparks.

"Why would anybody stay away because of what might or might not happen?" he said before Pittsburgh played at Miller Park. "I understand the fans are sick about hearing about labor problems. I'm sick of hearing about them. But, it's all speculation. That shouldn't keep people away."

Fan Alicia Smokowicz of Milwaukee placed the blame on commissioner Bud Selig, who lives near Miller Park and formerly ran the Brewers.

"I think it is time for Bud Selig to leave," she said.

Still, some fans admitted they would always attend major league games, no matter what happened.

"I think a strike would definitely hurt baseball again, probably much more so than the previous one," Curt Conrad said at the Metrodome as Texas played Minnesota.

"I hope they work it out. And if they don't, I'll still keep coming to games after the strike because I like baseball."